


The Most Beautiful Thing

by ronsparkyspeirs



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Loss of Virginity, Older Man/Younger Woman, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 07:27:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20485112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronsparkyspeirs/pseuds/ronsparkyspeirs
Summary: Beth has some very suspect words etched into her skin and Daryl is a very lucky guy.





	The Most Beautiful Thing

So Beth’s not stupid, okay? She knows what the words etched on her thigh sound like, she knows her mama had pursed her lips when she was eleven and had asked what they meant. And she definitely knows that her daddy doesn’t really like to talk about them at all. 

Maggie on the other hand, thinks it’s kind of romantic, but Maggie’s also the girl that banged her soulmate the same day she met him, so she doesn’t give too much weight on Maggie’s opinion on that respect. 

Jimmy, her best friend since they were toddlers had taken one look at the words once, while they were out swimming in the lake and his eyes had widened and his cheeks had gotten pinker than the sunburn on her shoulders. 

“Some words,” he’d said, decidedly _ not _looking her in the eyes. 

Beth had shrugged, “Yeah.” 

It made people uncomfortable because she was so young and those words were definitely not meant for children’s ears. But she had always tried to look on the bright side of things, _ he _ was out there somewhere, _ he _ was _ waiting _for her. It didn’t matter that the black inky words on her upper thigh were unconventional, her person was out there somewhere, and all Beth had to do was meet them. 

The words that make their home in the soft skin of her inner thigh, a messy scrawl that sometimes Beth would spend hours looking at, she would trace the words with her fingers and wonder if somehow he felt it. She closes her eyes and lets her imagination wander. 

_ Fuck, you feel like heaven. _

Those are her words. The first thing her soulmate is ever going to say to her and she can’t even imagine the circumstances. She’s nineteen and she’s never had a serious boyfriend, and none of the boys she usually associated herself with had certainly ever talked like _ that. _But if Beth’s being honest with herself,which she always tries to be, the words leave her feeling warm and cherished, and yes, she knows they sound extremely obscene and sexual but that’s a start right? 

She knows a woman who has _ Hey there, sugar tits _scrawled right across her left breast. All she’s saying is, it could be worse. 

Nevertheless she spends her free time chatting up any man older than herself up, much to her daddy’s chagrin. The words had been on her skin since the day she was born, which meant that her soulmate was older, which was also the only clue she had to go on. 

She remembers meeting Rick Grimes for the first time. on a babysitting job that a friend of her daddy’s had recommended her for, she had been sixteen and the only communication they’d had was over text message. But once she saw him, Beth thought he was the most handsome man she’d ever met. It didn’t matter that he was divorced and had two children; his eyes had been incredibly blue and the way they crinkled around the edges when he smiled had left her blushing like the teenaged girl she was. 

“Hey, I’m Rick,” he’d said, and with those three words he’d shot her growing crush effectively down. 

“I’m Beth, nice to finally meet you.” 

It was stupid anyways, her words had a very specific context and babysitting a six month old baby was not it. 

So Beth kept dreaming, kept thinking of all the different ways and meanings her words could take place in. Until one night when Maggie drags her out to some bar in Atlanta, it’s definitely not a place either sister would ever venture out but Maggie’s friend, Rosita’s boyfriend is celebrating his birthday at the place and Glenn couldn’t go so it became Beth’s duty as her sister to accompany her to some sketchy biker bar. 

There were tons of motorcycles parked out front and Maggie’s Honda stuck out like a sore thumb, but at least she’d dressed for the part; black, skin tight jeans, cowboy boots, and a green top that was little more than a bandana tied around her chest, the words on her right collar bone prominent in case anyone decided to get handsy. 

Unlike Beth, who could feel everyone’s eyes on her. Eyes that roamed from her sensible flats up her legs to her modest white dress, topped with a light pink cardigan to ward off the night chill, Beth could feel her cheeks getting hot, all the women she could see were wearing similar things to Maggie, some even going as far as to include leather in their attire. 

“You could have told me we were coming to a biker bar, I would have put something else on,” she mutters under her breath, giving Maggie the side eye. 

“Oh stop,” the older girl responds, “you look cute! Any of these bikers would be so lucky to have you by their side,” she said, giggling when she sees the look of shock on Beth’s face.

Maggie shrugs, “This crowd tends to be older, you might find your guy here.” 

Beth doesn’t even know what to say about that. Anytime she imagined her soulmate, she thought of some sophisticated, worldly, gentleman, not some guy that wore leather as a uniform. And besides, _ her _ with a tough guy like the ones in the bar? She almost laughs out loud at the mere thought. 

They walk in and Rosita shouts at them to get their attention, their group is already sitting at a booth. Beth doesn’t know any of them but Maggie makes a sound of annoyance beside her, “I can’t stand Abe’s friends,” she says, through a fake smile. 

Beth hasn’t formed an opinion but one of the men leers at both of them as if they were the juiciest pieces of steak he’d ever seen, he glides himself out from the booth and stands in front of the two sisters. 

“Well, hey there, sweetheart, I don’t believe we’ve met,” he says, extending a hand, “the name’s Merle.” 

Maggie pushes her towards the table before she can shake the man's hand, “This is Beth, my _ baby _sister,” she tells him, emphasizing the word in a way that has Beth feeling unnecessarily young. 

“I can see why you’ve been hiding her from us, she’s too damned cute,” Merle says, grinning at Beth in a way that she guesses is supposed to be attractive but she finds more amusing than anything else. 

“This here’s _ my _baby brother, Daryl,” he says, pointing towards a man with shaggy hair sitting on the far edge of the table, a cigarette dangling from his lips. 

The man gives her a brief nod and Beth smiles in response, because he looks like he wants to be there about as much as she does. 

Beth meets Abraham, the birthday boy, he’s tall and has hair colored like a sunset, and when Maggie introduces her, Abraham pulls her in close and gives her the biggest bear hug she’s ever gotten. He thanked them for coming and slips a beer into their hands. 

“It’s okay,” Maggie tells her, leaning in close, “I won’t tell daddy.” 

Beth shrugs, she’s never been much of a drinker and she’s definitely not planning on starting today. Maggie had always been the wild one, sneaking out to kiss boys, coming home drunk and trying to hide it from daddy; Shawn had a wild streak too, but he was a _ boy _, and boys always get away with more. 

Beth was the youngest but she set the example for the two of them, or so her daddy always said. She never got in trouble in school, she never had a boyfriend, she always went to church with her mama and daddy, and she always, always did the right thing. 

Honestly, it was exhausting. 

Sometimes Beth wanted to be bad, she wanted to go out to parties too, she wanted to kiss boys and have them touch her underneath her shirt. She’s never had the courage to go against her parents though, she didn’t like to think about disappointing them. 

So she sits across Daryl and sneaks a few glances at him as the night goes on. He doesn’t really talk, just lets Merle soak up all the attention and do all the socializing for him. Beth realizes that he's kind of really handsome and she feels herself blushing and there’s nothing she can do about it so she stares at the condensation on the beer bottle in front of her, but she can feel his eyes on her. 

While she’s worrying about the fact that he almost caught her staring, she feels a jolt beneath the table, she glances up but Daryl’s not even looking at her, he’s listening intently as Merle describes the time they were caught out in the woods during a hail storm while they were out hunting. 

But she feels it again, his foot bumping against hers, and it can’t be an accident, it feels too deliberate. 

So Beth swallows the sudden dryness in her throat and shifts her foot against his, his eyes remain on Merle but his shoulders relax, almost like he was waiting for her to do something back. So instead of chalking it up to accident, Beth grows a little bold, she crosses her legs and lets one of her flats drop to the floor, her bare foot raises and she finds the opening to his jeans. She watches his face carefully as her toes climb their way up his shin, his leg hair is wiry but he feels warm. Daryl never gives anything away, his expression never changing but Beth looks on as he shifts in his seat, he turns and gives her a heated look. 

She feels hot and sticky between her thighs when his eyes meet hers, he looks fierce and she wonders what kind of man he is. 

All of a sudden he gets up, and says to no one in particular, “I’ma take a piss,” and Beth likes his voice, it’s rough and it sounds like he smokes three packs of cigarettes a day but it suits him, she wonders what he’d sound like in bed and her thighs clench together. 

While she may have been a virgin she had a lot of time invested with a certain toy Maggie had gotten her for her eighteenth birthday, it had been embarrassing and she played it off as a joke. But as time went by she grew curious, and it took Beth a couple of months to even touch it, but god, she was glad she did. 

Daryl gives her a look as he walks past her, his hair half hiding his eyes but Beth knows what it means, it’s almost primal the way she instinctively knows what he wants. But most importantly, she knows what _ she _wants. So Beth waits a few minutes and follows after him, she makes some half assed excuse to Maggie when her sister gives her a look. Beth scans the crowded bar and sees no sign of him, so she makes her way towards the restrooms, maybe he’s still back there. The hallway to the bathroom is dark and Beth is seriously rethinking her life choices but then a door in the far left opens, leading to the alleway outside and she sees him standing there, one of the bartenders closes it behind him and Beth makes her way outside. 

Daryl is standing in the shadows, his dark clothing hiding him from sight, the only thing she can clearly see is the cherry red tip of his cigarette as it lights up. He nudges his head, signaling for her to follow him, and they make their way deeper into the alley, it’s damp and the noise from the bar is muffled and Beth should be scared but she’s not. She’s excited for whatever this is turning out to be. 

Daryl flicks his cigarette away and without warning he grabs hold of her hips, pressing against her, he leans down and kisses her. He’s rough and there’s not much finesse but his enthusiasm more than makes up for it. Beth moans when his big hands palm her ass through her dress, she rises on tiptoes and wraps her arms around his neck. Daryl’s hand snakes under her skirt and his fingers press against the crotch of her panties, and she’s wet, she’s so wet, and she can’t believe she’s really doing this. 

They break apart for air and both of them panting, Daryl turns her around and Beth’s heart flutters in her chest, does she want this? It’s all happening so fast and then he’s pushing her dress up and pulling her panties down, and she can feel her come dripping, making her thighs sticky. She realizes that yes, even if one night is all she ever gets, she _ wants _ this. Losing her virginity in a dirty alley had never been part of the plan but maybe that’s why she’s never met _ him _, maybe he’s not a planning sort of guy, maybe he’s just waiting for her to live a little before they meet. 

So she bends over, arches her back and rucks her dress up her hips and hears as Daryl fumbles with the condom wrapper. He kicks her feet apart and lines himself up, the first thrust _ hurts _and Beth lets out a whimper, he’s thick and she can feel every inch of him but it makes her smile. She’s having sex with a stranger in the back of a biker bar, outside! In public! Where anyone can walk by and see. 

Beth moans when Daryl starts setting a brutal rhythm, one of his hands lands by her head, the other one grabs her hip and she can feel his body, his chest pressed against her back, the harsh breaths that escape his lips every time he moves his hips. 

Beth can hear the distinct clinking sound of his belt, he groans and she pushes her ass back, she wants him to fuck her harder and he grunts. 

“Fuck, you feel like heaven,” he murmurs against her ear. 

And Beth freezes. _ Her words. He just said her words. _

It’s completely crazy and she feels like a wreck but she can’t help the tears that escape her eyes. She’s met him, _ Daryl _, he’s her soulmate. 

Beth pushes against him, she slides his cock from inside her and turns around, her hands going up to his jaw, she pushes the hair away from his face and Daryl is looking at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. 

“What’s wrong— did I hurt—“ 

“It’s you, it’s you,” she cries, “You’re my person.” 

And then he looks like he’s been hit over the head with something very heavy. Beth grins because she’s one hundred percent sure she’s just said _ his _ words. Daryl wraps his arms around her and presses her close, he squeezes her hard enough that she laughs because she can’t catch her breath. _ My goodness, there’s no way they’re going to be able to explain this away. _

Daryl starts fixing their clothes, pulling up his pants and pushing her skirt down but Beth lays a hand on his wrist, “We can finish, if y’still want to?” 

He shakes his head, “Girl, you deserve better than some dirty back alley.”

Beth smiles, fate, or God, or whatever, has given her a good man, he wouldn’t care about it if he wasn't. 

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” 

His shoulders curl in on themselves and Beth can’t figure out how this is the same man that led her outside just to fuck her. He chews on his lower lip and Beth decides that she doesn’t like seeing him feeling unsure, so she grins and sticks her hand out. 

“Hi. My name’s Beth Greene and I’m your soulmate.” 

He huffs out a breath, looking amused as he grins back at her, his canines peeking out his mouth, he takes her hand and shakes it, “‘M Daryl Dixon.” 

“Nice to meet ya Mr. Dixon, I’d really like for you to finish fucking me now, if you don’t mind,” she tells him, her cheeks feeling hot when the curse word leaves her mouth. 

His shoulders slump and he lets out a sigh but his hands never leave her hips, “Christ, girl, yer gonna be the death of me.” 

Beth leans up and kisses him, soft and shyly, he’s not very good at it but she thinks she can teach him, he seems like a fast learner. His mouth follows her when she leans back and she finds it adorable, “Well?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. 

Daryl fumbles with his jeans, shoving them down, then he lifts her up, making Beth wrap her legs around his waist, he holds her up with one arm. His other hand snakes around and lines himself up with her, the push this time is slow, intense in a different way than before because he holds her gaze the entire time. 

“Oh,” Beth sighs, and she almost starts crying again because the moment is so perfect, like nothing she could have ever dreamed of but so, so much better. 

Daryl’s thrusts are long and deep, he hits a spot inside her that has Beth dropping her forehead to one broad shoulder, she squeezes her thighs together and Daryl lets out a groan. Beth turns her head and mouths at his neck, tastes like salt and smells like cigarettes but it’s _ him _. 

She can feel him trembling beneath her, trying to be soft to make up for his earlier roughness, “It’s okay, y’don’t gotta hold back, it’s okay, Daryl.” 

He grunts and starts thrusting in earnest. Loud squelching noises and her soft moans the only thing she can hear, it’s so good and she knows she’s going to be sore tomorrow but it’s worth it. She wants him and Beth is so glad she decided to come outside. 

She doesn’t come, can’t this way but he does. He stills beneath her and then he curses, “‘M sorry, _ shit _, ‘m sorry,” he tells her as he pulls out. 

Beth runs her fingers through the stubble on his chin, “It’s alright, I’m on the pill.” 

“Should’a asked first.” 

“You’re mine,” she tells him, “it’s okay.” 

And the way he looks at her, like he knows she’s his too steals the breath from her lungs. His cheeks get red and Beth would laugh if she didn’t think it would make him more embarrassed. But Daryl fixes their clothes, buckles his belt and pushes her unruly hair away from her face. 

“Y’ready to go back inside?” he asked, his voice rough but quiet. 

Beth nods and takes his hand into her own, their fingers intertwine and she swings their hands between them like a child. She hears Daryl snort and when she turns to look at him, he’s smirking, there’s lines around his eyes and gray in his beard but he’s probably the most handsome man she’s ever met. 

“How old are ya, anyways?” he asks. 

“I’ll be twenty in four months,” she responds, “you?” 

Daryl nods, “‘m thirty seven.” 

“I’m sorry you had to wait so long,” Beth tells him, and she can only imagine waiting for eighteen ears for your soulmate. 

He shakes his head, “ Nah, _ ‘m _ sorry for the words I put on ya.” 

Beth giggles, “Talk about a confidence booster.” 

Daryl coughs or chokes on his saliva, Beth’s not sure, but a strangled noise comes from his throat and he turns his gaze to her, “Yer kinda weird, ain’t ya?” 

Beth grins, her cheeks starting to hurt with how much she smiled in the last hour, and she thinks of all the things she’s eventually going to end up doing with Daryl. She thinks of birthday parties and picnics, and spaghetti Wednesday's, her eyes sparkle with joy, and she looks at him, “You have no idea.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Idk how the soulmate trope hasn’t caught on more in this fandom, there’s a million different ways for Beth/Daryl to meet 🤷♀️
> 
> And yes, the woman with the words on her boob is Carol and the man that’s going to say them to her is Merle 🙆🏻🙆🏻🙆🏻
> 
> La Plus Belle Chanson- Jacqueline Taïeb


End file.
